Sydell Rabin died after a brief illness on Dec. 6.

Sydell was born in Philadelphia in 1927 to Reba and Louis Grossman. She graduated from Temple University.

After traveling to Europe, she met and married Arnold Rabin, a television producer at the time. The couple lived in New York City until their only child, David Rabin, was two years old, when they moved to Maplewood, N.J.

She taught English at Columbia High School, and was the head of the English department there for many years.

Beloved summer visits to Martha’s Vineyard evolved into the Rabins purchasing a small West Tisbury home. Sydell added to the house a beautifully layered cottage garden designed by landscape architect Peggy Schweir. That house and garden encapsulated the beauty and joy Martha’s Vineyard held for Sydell.

Inspired by her son’s wedding in 1993, she spent the following years writing about the complex feelings she had as mother of the groom. Her articles were published by For the Bride magazine and were read as commentaries on NPR’s Morning Edition. She ultimately wrote the book, The Complete Mother of the Groom, how to be graceful, helpful, and happy during this special time. The jacket of the book proclaims that this is “for the mother of the groom who wants to do more than ‘just wear beige’!” “You want to be helpful, but not pushy.”

She moved with her husband to Ipswich in 2007. For many years they enjoyed visits to Crane’s Beach and concerts at the Shalin Liu in Rockport. She particularly valued the friendship of special Ipswich neighbors.

She leaves her husband Arnold Rabin, to whom she was married for 70 years. She leaves her son Dr. David Rabin, his wife Heather Atwood, and Sydell’s granddaughters, Isabelle Bhayani and Georgia Rabin.

Sydell’s petite stature always belied an inner grandeur. A photo of her from a costumed gala event years ago, in full Elizabethan costume, scepter in hand, smiling into the camera with regal authority, hangs on the wall in her office, revealing the inner queen ­— and performer — those who love her will miss so much.